PANAJI
The Union Health Ministry in India is considering regulations and strict actions against e-pharmacies, which are online platforms that sell medicines, due to concerns over data privacy, malpractices, and baseless sale of drugs.
As per a PTI report, the revised draft of the New Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2023, which is currently undergoing inter-ministerial consultation, proposes that the central government may regulate, restrict or prohibit the sale or distribution of any drug by online mode.Notably, the Drug Controller General of India on February 08 had issued a show cause notice to e-pharmacies asking them to respond within 48 hours on why action should not be taken against them for flouting norms. But none took heed of it, so the DCGI had to take this stern step, sources stated.
Another doctor from South Goa pointed out that when the medicine reaches at your doorstep, after online order, there is a tendency of ordering the medicine repeatedly if the same symptoms continue, without visiting the doctor. “The patient misses the follow-ups with his doctor and this harms his condition. The sugar or blood pressure can worsen,” he claims.
Pharmacists in Goa feel that it is the need of the hour and the decision will be a welcome step to control the unethical practice of selling medicinal drugs without valid prescription. A pharmacy owner in the heart of Panaji stated, “I think, saying is one thing; taking firm decision is another thing but what really matters is strict implementation and stringent vigilance and monitoring.”
The former president of Association of Private Nursing Homes Goa, Dr Govind Kamat of GG Kamat Memorial Hospital in Panaji has come out with full support for this move, saying, “I am fully for banning. It should not have been allowed at all. Without doctor’s prescription, no drug should be dispensed.”
